GM preparing for offering to raise up to $20 billion

The registration statement is expected to announce that Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co. will be lead underwriters for the sale of part of the government's share of the company, according to reports.

The Treasury also has hired New York investment bank Lazard Freres & Co. to advise it on GM's stock offering.

The two banks, and smaller underwriters, are expected to share a fee for handling the sale, which could range from $75 million to $150 million based on the stock sold — lower than most IPOs, a U.S. Treasury Department official told the Detroit News.

Since 1999, four U.S. IPOs have exceeded $5 billion — Visa Inc.’s $19.7 billion deal in 2008, AT&T Wireless Group’s $10.6 billion offering in 2000, Kraft Foods Inc.’s $8.68 billion deal in 2001 and United Parcel Service of America’s $5.47 billion sale in 1999, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Earlier this week, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the improved performance of GM could narrow or possibly eliminate the government's losses in the deal.